Everyday, us human beings are confronted with and defined by the choices we make.

In the poem, "The

Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, there are two roads diverged in a yellow wood and the speaker has to
choose which between the two roads to travel. In the end he chooses the one less traveled by and said
that it has made all the difference. I think that it is just so amazing how one single choice we make can
change our entire lives. Especially if that choice is unique from all the others.

It is natural to feel worried, afraid, nervous, or uncertain about our peculiar choices but we have to
remember that in life, if there's no risk, there will be no rewards. And I would like to think all of us agree
that the reward is even greater than the risk. If the speaker did not choose that path, he wouldn't have
known that it is easier to travel there. He wouldn't have known that he would still end up in the same
destination only ealier than the others.

I myself was once like the speaker. When I was a kid I was really shy and I would only join activities in
school that doesn't involve talking, dancing, or performing in front of a crowd all by myself. I was that-
'quiz bee type of kid' and not that- 'declamer, singer, extemporaneous speaker,' kind of kid. However, at
the back of my mind, I really wanted to be both. Like, I can be in best of both worlds. My mother was
also always there encouraging me to let out my talents because she knows that I can do it. At first I
doubted myself because of my own insecurities, but then I thought, "If I'll never try, then I'll never
know."

So when I was in 4th grade, I sat aside all of my worries, doubts, and fears of mistakes and judgement
from others and joined the church and school choir, our school's folk dance troop, the table tennis team,
the student council, declaming and balagtasan contests, debates, camps, conferences, and the like. I did
not even expect to be accepted as part of any of those mentioned groups or activities. But if I did not
risk it all, the I would not have known. I would not have gained experience or won a lot of contests like
those. I wouldn't have been part of the team that represented Region VI at the national level of sayawit
competition held in Baguio City when I was in eighth and nineth grade, my biggest achievement in
performing yet.

In terms of academics, one of the biggest choices I've made so far is choosing where to enroll in Senior
High School. I took the entrance exams for the University of the Philippines High School in Iloilo and
West Visayas State University High School admissions and passed both. I was torn not only between the
two mentioned schools but also my previous school because I felt sad that I will leave behind all of my
closest friends and put to waste the reputation and foundation of relationships I built with my teachers
and classmates for four years. Another thing is that if I transfer, I'll be far away from home, which is my
comfort zone.
However I made up my mind and I believed that if I would not step out of my comfort zone, I will not
grow as an individual. So followed my philosophy in life and took the risk of going to a new school which
is UP High that is way more challenging than my previous one. At first, it was really hard to adjust and
there were a lot of times I wondered what if I just stayed on my past school. But as time goes by I
started to feel the difference. In every challenge and problems that I surpass in UP High, I started to feel
the growth and maturity I never knew needed converging all over me. That was the time I realized that
indeed if did not take the risk, I would not end up to be who I am today. Someone I am proud to say that
is in a happy place now.

As what they always say, "Life is short so make the most out of it." Explore new choices. Learn new
things. Go out of your shell. Take the risk and conquer the world. So that at the end when everything is
about to go black, you will not say "what if." We only live once and the world has a lot to offer than just
staying at one place your whole life. When you dream, it should be big. You have to be willing to risk it
all if you really want it even if it's hard and peculiar. That's the point of life- for us to learn how to take
risks amidst all the hardships and continue to do so until we reach our limit, the point of success. All it
takes is just one leap of faith and it will be all worth it. As what Ralph Waldo Emerson, a philosopher and
a poet, once said, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a
trail."

Si Mathilde ay isang maganda't mapanghalinang babae. Hangad man niyang makapag asawa ng isang
binatang guwapo't mayaman ay hindi maaari dahil siya'y isnilang sa pamilya ng mga manunulat. Kaya
naman ay pumayag siyang mapangasawa si Ginoong Loisel, isang ring manunulat. Isang araw silang mag
asawa ay inanyayahang dumalo sa isang kasiyahan. Nagalit di Mathilde sa asawa dahil wala siyang
maisusuot na bagong damit at alahas. Binigyan siya ni Ginoong Loisel ng perang pambili ng bestida na
sana'y ipambibili niya ng baril na pang-ibon. Ngunit hindi nakuntento si Mathilde dahil wala naman
siyang alahas na susuotin. Ang nangyari ay nanghiram siya ng kwintas sa kanyang kaibigan na si Madam
Forestier. Dumating ang gabi ng kasiyahan at doon ay naging sentro siya ng atensyon. Habang
nakikipagsayaw siya ay tinanggal niya ang kwintas at sa kasamaang palad nawala niya ito. Dahil dito ay
nangutang siya ng malaking pera para pambili ng pamalit sa kwintas ng kaibigan. Naghirap silang mag
asawa ng sampung taon upang bayaran ang ipinalit na kwintas. Pagkatapos ng isang dekada, nagkita
muli sina Mathilde at Madam Forestier. Naging mukhang matanda na si Mathilde at para na siyang
tunay na babae ng maralitang tahanan. Sinabi ni Mathilde kay Madam Forestier ang lahat ng nangyari.
At sa kahabag-habag na pagkakataon, sinabi ni Madam Forestier na peke lamang ang pala nasabing
kwintas at nagkakahalaga lamang pala ito ng limang daang prangko.